Door-latch



A. E. FOHN.

DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, I920.

1,348,001 Patented July 27, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- \\\\\\\\\\\wl mu...

A. E. FOHN.

DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 9. 1920.

1 348,00 1 Patented July 27, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED. ISTATESI PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLI E. I'OHN, OF MONTGOMERY, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB 'IO AI IBOBA STEEL I'RODUC'IS COMPANY, OF AUBOBA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

nooamrcnQ Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jul 27,1920.

Application filed January 9, 1920. Serial No. 85l),280.

To all'whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, About E. Form, a former subject of the Emperor of Germany, now a formal declarant of intention to become a citizen-of the United States, and a resident of Montgomery, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Latches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in door-latches designed particularly for use in connection with sheet-metal doors such as are employed for metal clothes-lockers and similar devices. It is common to provide such metal doors with an inturned longitudinal flange at its free edgethat is, the vertical edge portion that is not secured by the'usual hinges to the body of the locker or similar device-and to slidingl secure a latch-carrying bar adjacent to sue flange,

the latches being rigidly afiixed to the bar and moved up bodily with such bar to dis- I engage them from their respective keepers that extend across the plane of movement of the latches. In all such prior constructions, so far as I am aware, it is necessary to provide some movable means projecting through the face of the door and having a connection with said sliding bar whereby said bar may be moved upward to effect a disengagement of the latches from their respective keepers. The leading object of my invention is to provide a latch construction that, while employing the usual slide-bar and utilizing the weight of such bar to hold the latches in engagement with their, keepers, will not require any device toproject ,through the door as a means for raising the bar,the bar b my invention being automatically. raise. with a consequent disengagement of the latches, simply ward pull upon a handle or knob edly secured to the outer face of the door and having no engagement at all with an part of of the latch to turn down and automatically disengage itself from such keeper when the door is pulled outward,-the other end of the latch being suitably connected to the sliding bar so that such bar will be moved upward during the unlatching operation, and immediately thereafter, by gravityreturn the latch to a position to again on age 'under its keeper when the dooris close In the drawings, I

Figure 1 is a vertical section, 1 partly broken away, through a metal lockerand its door with my improved latching mechanism attached thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in side elevation, and partly broken away, of the latching device, the view being taken from the opposite side of the device shown'in Fig. 1,

and showing in vertical section a portion of the door;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section taken at line 33. of Flg. '1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view throughv the'locker taken at line 4-4 of Fig. l and showing an edge view of one of the latches and the sliding bar with which its outer end is loosely connected;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section taken at line 55 of Figfil, and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the latch devices and portions of the locker and its door.

Referring to the several figures of the the front of which is the door-opening, such door-opening being surrounded by a comparatively heavy frame 11 formed as usual of angle-iron bars, to which frame the door 'drawings,10 indicates a portion of the .body of a locker formed of sheet-metal, in

is secured along oneedge by hinges 12 as usual. The door is indicated by '13 and will ordinarily be formed of a sheet of metal with inturned marginal flanges for-strengthening or stiffening purposes as is common in this class of doors. As only that flange at the vertical edge opposite the hinges will require to be mentioned hereinafter, I have applied only to it a reference numeral, towit 14.- At 13" is shown one of the usual ventilating slits in the door above which is a pressed out piece forming a shield 13* for such slit. Lying alongside of the inner face of the vertical flange 14 of the door is a slide-bar 15, it being movably retained in place by a number of suitable guides 17 se- Cu ed by spot weldi g or otherwise to the not so ailixed to the bar but have instead a loose or movable engagement with the bar as hereinafter pointed out.

18,.the number to be employed varying with the height of the door. Each latch cooperates with a fixed keeper 19 projecting horizontally behind and across the flange 14 of the door when the door is closed and serving as a stop for such door-flange to abut against. The keeper is formed of a piece of sheet-metal that is bent so as to provide an end portion for attaching to some portion of the locker,in the present construction such attaching portion being riveted to the inner face of the angle-iron frame 11. In the lower edge of the keeper is formed a notch 20 into which the upper edge of the latch projects, as shown.

Each latch is preferably stamped from a heavy piece of sheet-metal, and at its rear portion-that is the part farthest from the face of the doorit is formed with an upwardly-projecting hookend, adapted to engage with the lower edge of the keeper, or

more accurately speaking with reference to the particular construction here illustrated,

with the end wall of the notch 20 that is formed in such lower edge. The hook end portion is so shaped as to present a substantially straight edge adjacent 'to and parallel with the rear face of the keeper when the latch is in engagement with such keeper, as is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The latch is connected to the door flange 14 by a pivot 21, the latch, in the construction shown, lying, as best shown in Fig. 4, in the space between the flange 14 and the slide-bar 15. At its forward end the latch is provided with a lateral extension 22 that connects it with the slide-bar, the connection, as shown, being accomplished through the provision of an opening 23 formed in the slide-bar into which the extension projects. Such opening 23 is here shown as a notch in the edge of such bar and it is to be large enough to permit the necessary turning therein of the part 22 when the latch is rocked on its pivot 21. It will be evident that with the construction of latch mechanism described essentially from all such former constructions in that by my improvements the person opening the door does not have'to first positively raise the bar to release the latch but can by. a direct outward. only zontal plane from that portion of the edge of the keeper that the edge of the latch rests against. hus the force of the outward pull on the door is transmitted from the pivot 21 The latches referred to are indicated by.

.drop by gravity'and bring the latch intoproper position to again engage its keeper when the door is closed. Of course a stop of some description should be provided to limit the downward movement of the bar so that the latch willnot be swung into a position that will prevent proper engagement with its keeper when the door is closed, and as onemeans oflimiting such movement I have shown (see Fig. 2) a lug 24 riveted or otherwise secured to the bar and extending out through a short slot 25 in the door, two oppositely-extending win s 26 serving to cover said slot at all times. 11 the outer end of this lug 24 is an eye 27 adapted, when the latch is in engagement with its keeper, to register with another eye in the lower end of a fixed door-handle 28 through which eyes the hasp of a padlock may be passed to hold the door locked'in closed position. j i

The upper edge of the hook end of the latch is curved as shown so as to facilitate it passing the keeper when the door is being closed, as will be understood.

By providing the lower edge of the keeper with the notch 20 provision is-made for so interlocking the latch and its keeper that not only is the door-held latched in place,

but when the door is locked it cannot easily be pried open by the insertion of a tool in the crack between the flange 14' and the frame 11 because the face of the latch striking against the side of the notch will hold- -2. The combination with a door, of v a pivoted latch thereonextending out from the body of the door at an angle thereto, a fixed keeper with the lower edge of which said latch engages when the door is closed, and gravity-operated means slidably secured to the door for holding said latch normally forced up into engagement with the keeper when the door is closed.

3. The combination of a. door, latching mechanism on the door comprising a vertically movable bar and a latch pivotally attached to the door and projecting out from the body of the door at an angle thereto, and a fixed keeper for the latch to engage when the door is closed, said latch being in engagement with the bar to cause a positive upward movement of the bar when the latch is being turned on its pivot to disengage it from the keeper.

4. The combination of a door, latching mechanism on the door comprising a vertically-movable bar and a latch pivotally attached to the door and projecting out from the body of the door at an angle thereto, and a fixed keeper for the latch to engage when the door is closed, said bar having an opening and the latch having a lateral extension that projects into said opening to cause a positive upward movement of the bar when the latch is being turned on its pivot to disengage it from the keeper.

5. The combination with a door having an inwardly-directed marginal member at its free vertical edge, a bar slidingly mounted at one side of said marginal member, a latch pivotally secured to said member and projecting away from the body of\thedoor at an angle thereto, said latch having a lateral projection extending through an opening in said bar, and a fixed keeper with the lower edge of which said latch normally engages when the door is closed.

6. The combination with a door, of latching means located wholly at the inside of the door comprising a latch pivotally connected with the door and extending out at an angle therefrom, a fixed keeper with the lower edge of which said latch engages, the pivot of the latch being in a different horizontal plane than the point of contact of the edges of the latchand keeper so that the latch will turn on its pivot and be disengaged from the keeper upon an outward pull on the door, and a sliding bar on the door connected with that end of the'latch nearest the door for normally holding the other end of the latch forced up into engagement with the keeper when the door is in closed position.

7. The combination with a door, of a latch pivotally connected therewith and extending out at an angle therefrom, a keeper for the latch to engage with, the pivot of the latch being in a different horizontal plane" than the plane in which is located the edge of the latch that is in contact with the keeper when the door is closed, whereby an outward pull upon the door will disengage the latch, and a sliding bar carried by the door for thereafter returning the latch to a position to again. engage its keeper when the door is closed.

8. The combination of a door, a latch pivotally connected intermediate of its ends with the door, a Vertically-movable bar carried by the door and connected with one end portion of said latch and tending to normally force the other end of the latch upward, and a keeper with the under edge of which the latch engages when the door is closed.

9. The combination of a door, a latch pivotally connected intermediate of its ends with the. door, a vertically-movable bar carried by the door and connected with one end portion of said latch and tending to normally force the other end of the latch upward, a keeper with the under edge of which the latch engages when the door is closed, and means for limiting the downward movement of the bar to cause the latch to be held in position to engage said lower edge of the keeper.

ADOLF E. FOHN. 

